Kriegsmann K, et al. - Researchers intended to gain clarity regarding the ideal timing and the collective patient benefits of high-dose chemotherapy (HDT) and autologous blood stem cell transplantation (ABSCT) as treatment options for patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL), via this retrospective analysis. They examined the data of patients with B-NHL who received an HDT protocol followed by ABSCT between 2001 and 2007, to compare upfront (directly after induction) vs secondary transplantation (at first relapse). Feasibility of HDT and ABSCT directly after induction chemotherapy with high progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates, was corroborated. HDT/ABSCT was found effective in patients with relapse after first-line therapy and consecutively poor prognosis.